Eyes Wide Open
by monkeyface52
Summary: When Sam asks Emily out, Derek wonders what has come over his best friend. But then, he starts to see Emily in a whole new way...DEMILY oneshot. Please R


Derek laughed. Not a little…a _lot_…and loud.

"Sam, you have _got_ to be kidding me!" Derek stopped laughing enough to look over at his friend Sam who was indeed smiling, but not laughing.

"I don't get what's so funny" Sam shrugged, hiking his backpack over his shoulder. The before school crowd was growing and they knew they'd have to head off to class soon.

"You don't get what's funny?" Derek repeated, wiping tears from his eyes. "What's so funny is that you just told me you asked _Emily Davis_ to the Maple Leaves game! That's the funnies thing I think I've heard all year!" But Sam just shook his head.

"Dude, I'm not joking." Derek's laughter died down as he looked his friend in the eye. It did seem like he was serious. The smile fell from Derek's face.

"Sam, I don't think you get it. I got four tickets three rows up from the glass! This is going to be the best Friday night of your life! You could ask any girl in the world! Why would you ask _Emily Davis_?"

"Why do you keep saying her name like that?" Sam asked, frowning as well.

"Oh, I don't know…because she's _Emily Davis!_" Sam shook his head. Derek continued. "We've known her forever, Sam. She's like the girl next door."

"She _is_ the girl next door," Sam smiled at Derek, reminding him that, in fact, Emily lived right next door to him. "I don't know. It was like my eyes were opened this week or something. I'd see her in class or in the halls and suddenly, I saw her for the first time. She's hot!" Derek rolled his eyes.

"I think you've lost it."

"I'm serious! She's beautiful, she's funny, she's nice, she's smart…it was weird. I started getting all weird and awkward around her, like I didn't know what to say. She must have thought I was nuts. So, I finally asked her out yesterday. And she said yes." Sam shrugged and gave another smile. "I'm excited." Derek shook his head, but Sam wasn't finished. "We aren't little kids any more, D. _She_ certainly isn't. Just because you don't get it doesn't mean I'm missing out on something great." Sam turned to leave and Derek just stood there, totally dumbfounded. Was Sam crazy? Emily Davis? And what was all that junk about his eyes being opened? The bell rang and Derek rushed off to this economics class, wondering if his best friend needed his head examined.

Half way through first period, Derek started wondering if _he_ was the one who needed his head examined. He couldn't stop staring at Emily, trying to figure out why Sam would ask her out. She was the same old Emily, the same girl they'd known forever. Okay, sure, she was older. She was out of that geekey middle school phase and wasn't _that_ bad looking.

_Okay, so she is kind of pretty. But not hot. I'd never call her hot_ Derek thought to himself, narrowing his eyes as he studied her. Well, her smile was pretty nice. And she did have this weird way of kind of lighting up whenever she laughed…which was often.

And, when Derek thought about it, she _was_ pretty nice. She'd seen the best and worst of him over the years and she was still his friend. In fact, he'd probably hurt her more than he'd hurt any other person (besides family, but that didn't count) and she forgave him every single time.

Emily glanced his way then and Derek looked quickly down at his blank notebook, covering his face so she wouldn't see it turning red. His heart began to speed up. What was wrong with him?

By lunch, Derek was feeling confused and frustrated. He found Sam before they entered the caf and pushed him up against a locker.

"What did you do to me?" Derek hissed at his friend. Sam pushed him off.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, smoothing out the wrinkles on his shirt.

"You and your…you know what I mean!" Derek wondered what he himself meant.

"I really don't," Sam smiled. Derek rolled his eyes and went into the caf, with Sam trailing behind. In line, he saw Emily and Casey sitting together. Suddenly, and idea hit him. He turned back to Sam with a sly smile.

"You can't go out with Emily. She's Casey's best friend."

"Uh, Casey is with Max, dude," Sam said slowly. Derek nodded, then turned away, feeling his temperature rising. What was going on with him? "Are you okay?' Sam asked, putting a hand on Derek's shoulder.

"I'm fine," Derek lied, shoving Sam's hand off him.

"Well, do you want to drive tonight, or do you want me to? I mean, I'll be over there anyway since I have to pick up Em, so--."

"I'll drive," Derek interrupted, not wanting to think about their double date that night. They got their food and, to Derek's horror, Sam began leading the way to the empty spots by Casey and Emily. Before they reached the table, Derek made a sharp turn and practically ran out of the caf. He thought he heard Sam calling after him, but he didn't stop.

For the rest of the day, Derek felt miserable. But he had a hard time figuring out why. If Sam wanted to ask out Emily, what did it matter to him? It was Emily! Going out with her had never even crossed Derek's mind. So it wasn't a big deal. Let Sam do what Sam wanted to do. It wasn't like they were getting married or anything. It was just one date.

So why did he keep thinking about her? Why did he find himself walking by her locker, hoping she would be there? Why was he watching every face that passed by him in the halls, longing for one of them to be hers?

Derek rushed home after school, dying to watch TV and turn off his mind until it was time for the game. That's what his problem was…too much thinking.

But it didn't work. He opened the door and Casey was sitting on the couch with none other than Emily.

"Don't even try stealing the remote, Derek. I hid it," Casey smiled smugly at him. Derek rolled his eyes and feigned disinterest, trying to ignore the weird compulsion to stare at Emily.

"Whatever."

"Derek, I'm so excited for tonight. I can't believe you got those tickets! Are you taking Kendra?" Emily asked, standing up and walking over to him. She was smiling and Derek found himself totally lost in her eyes.

"Uh, I…Kendra…yeah," he stammered. Emily looked confused, but adorable as she kept smiling.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. Derek nodded, not trusting himself to speak. She stood there, waiting for him to say something, but he was suddenly tongue tied. "Do you want to watch this movie with us?" Emily laughed, pointing to the couch. Derek shook his head.

"Uh…homework," he mumbled, pointing up the stairs. She really _was_ hot. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Emily Davis was hot! She was nice, she was funny, she was fun to be around.

"I think you must be sick," Emily laughed, putting her hand against his forehead. Derek jerked back, his skin tingling where she touched him.

"I gotta go," he rushed, turning and fleeing up the stairs.

It was the longest four hours of his life. He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering how in the world he'd totally missed the fact that the girl next door had become so…wow. It only made matters worse that he kept hearing her tinkling laugh float up the stairs as she hung out with Casey.

He was an idiot. That was the absolute truth. He was a complete and total idiot. Emily had been crushing on him for, like, 10 years. Even if it hadn't been totally obvious, Sheldon had told him as much when they were together. Derek always thought it was weird, more annoying than anything. He'd brushed it off, thinking nothing of it.

Sure, he'd take her on one date. But it wasn't a _real_ date. He was just trying to annoy Casey. And he'd kissed her that night…actually, she'd kissed him. But, even then, it hadn't bothered him. In fact, he'd kind of liked it.

Sitting up and rubbing his hands over his face, Derek had to face the music. In one day he'd totally fallen for the girl next door. The worst part was, it looked like that ship had sailed. Whatever feelings she'd had for him seemed to be long gone. And they should be. He'd rejected her for as long as he'd known her. She deserved better.

When Emily left to go home and get ready for the game, Casey came storming up the stairs and threw his door opened without a knock.

"What's your problem?" she yelled at him, crossing her arms. Derek laid back down on his back and closed his eyes.

"Leave me alone," he mumbled, covering his face.

"No! What's your deal? Why were you acting all weird down there? And at lunch? And why did you keep staring at me during economics? Are you _trying_ to make me mad?" she screamed.

"I wasn't staring at you," he bit back.

"Yes, you were. Like, the whole time," she continued, sounding even more upset. Derek stood up and, glaring at his sister, shoved her out of his room.

"No, I wasn't. Get over yourself." He started to slam the door in her face, but she stuck her foot in and squirmed half her body through the crack.

"I saw you, Derek! I know you're up to something. It wasn't like you were staring at Emily or anything," she laughed. Derek started to turn red and he shoved the door even harder, causing Casey to fall backwards. Casey left and Derek returned to his bed, dreading what was to come.

Kendra had painted her face blue. Normally, Derek would have made fun of her all night for that. And she screamed…a lot, which was even funnier. But he was so distracted, he couldn't think of one witty thing to say.

Sam and Emily seemed like they were having a lot of fun together. They kept talking and laughing. At one point, Sam even put his arm around her. Derek thought he might throw up and had to excuse himself to go to the bathroom. These tickets had cost him everything he had and he wasn't even enjoying it.

The ride home was even worse. Sam and Emily were in the back and Derek kept peering at them through the rearview mirror, wondering if they were holding hands…or worse.

"Emily, I can't believe you'd never been to a game before! Wasn't it awesome?" Kendra gushed.

"I'm just not as cool as you," Emily laughed.

"You're cool," Sam and Derek said at the same time. Derek caught Sam's eyes in the mirror, then turned his attention back to the road.

"Uh…thanks?" Emily laughed again. Apparently Kendra was the only one who didn't notice. She kept going.

"Dare Bear? Can you drop me off first? I'm sure you wanted to hang out on your couch or whatever, but I have to get up early in the morning," Kendra asked, flipping through her program.

"Sure," Derek told her. She looked up at him.

"What? No arguing? No pleading? You don't suddenly think I'm a bad kisser, do you?" Kendra teased. Derek forced himself to laugh, then looked back in the mirror at Emily, thinking about how her kiss had made his heart stop and shot sparks through his body from head to toe.

He dropped Kendra off and felt rotten as he drove Sam and Emily back to Em's house. He was like a chauffeur as they sat in the back, whispering and laughing. Every time she giggled, Derek gripped the wheel even tighter.

Derek parked at his house and the three of them got out. Figuring Sam would walk Emily over to her house and knowing it was the last thing he wanted to watch, Derek rushed up the stairs to his front door. His hand was on the knob when a gentle touch to his shoulder caused him to pause. He turned around and came face to face with Emily, her face creased in concern.

"Derek, are you okay? Seriously, you've kind of been out of it all night." Derek gazed at her, thinking how good she smelled. How could he have been so stupid to ignore her for so long? He looked over her shoulder at Sam, who was leaning against the car and staring up at the sky.

"Do you really like him?" Derek asked Emily. She looked over her shoulder, then back at Derek.

"What? Do you find it so hard to believe that Sam could like me after all these years?" she asked, crossing her arms and sounding slightly bitter.

"No," Derek said softly, holding her gaze. He could tell his answer surprised her as she took a step back.

"Well…good. And, yes, I think Sam's great." Derek ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes, not sure what to do next. "Why does it matter? You've never cared before."

"I know," he said honestly. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "Em, I just want you to know…if things don't work out with you and Sam…well, I'm always here." Her eyebrows shot up, then she smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Right, Derek. Now you're just making fun of me." She turned to leave but he caught her shoulders and turned her back to face him. She was so close…so beautiful…

"I'm not making fun of you, Em," he whispered, his eyes pleading with her to understand everything he wasn't saying. Her eyes grew wide and stepped away from him.

"I've got to go. Sam is waiting," she told him, turning and rushing away. Derek sighed as he turned into his house.

Sitting in the dark living room, Derek kept replaying the night in his mind. Should he have told her what he was feeling? Should he have just grabbed her and kissed her on the spot? And what about Sam?

A knock on the door snapped him from his thoughts. Derek walked slowly to answer it, figuring it would be Sam wanting to talk about how great and wonderful the night was.

"Emily!" he said in surprise, seeing her standing on his porch. Her eyes were wide and she looked like she had been crying. _Looked like_ was the key word. Right then and there, she looked incredibly angry.

"Look Derek Venturi," she growled, taking and finger and poking him in the chest. "I've liked you for 10 years – _10 years!_ And you've _never_ given me the time of day unless it was part of some scheme of yours. And now I've got a great guy who likes me and I like him back and you think you can just waltz in and tell me you've changed your mind about everything after I've waiting for you for so long?" She wasn't yelling, but had a real angry kind of whisper going on. Derek held up his hands.

"Em, listen, I--."

"No, _you_ listen," she interrupted, narrowing her eyes at him. "I don't know what kind of sick game you are playing or what girl you're trying to get right now, but I refuse to let you ruin this for me. I've spent too many nights crying over you and I'm not going to let you do this again. I--."

Derek grabbed her, cutting her off. Without thinking, he kissed her. And not some lame, let's-just-be-friends peck on the cheek. It was a full, passionate, you're-amazing kind of kiss. She was stiff at first and Derek could tell he'd surprised her. But, soon, she loosened up. Derek felt her arms wrap softly around his neck and he tried not to smile as those same head to toe sparks shot through his body.

After a minute or two, Derek pulled back, a lazy smile on his face as he gazed into Emily's eyes. She was breathing hard, but smiling as well.

"What took you so long?" she asked. He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes with a chuckle.

"I've been an idiot. I just needed to have my eyes opened." He pulled back slightly and looked her in the eyes once more. "What about Sam?" Emily shrugged and bit her lip.

"It was just once date. I think he'll get over it. Besides, he was the one who told me I should come over and talk to you. He said something about giving you a pep talk this morning?" Derek laughed, wondering if maybe Sam had been the one using Emily this time for some kind of scheme.

"Well, let's just say that maybe Sam should be an eye doctor. He sure did help me see." Emily looked slightly confused, so Derek leaned in and kissed her again. Yup, he'd definitely had his eyes opened.


End file.
